Energy Blast – Feb 10, 2010

Vladimir Putin is in Finland to discuss Baltic Sea environmental issues related to the Nord Stream pipeline – Finland is the only country not yet to have approved the project.  ‘The state of the sea is alarming,‘ according to the Finnish prime minister.  China and Russia are holding off on securing any gas supply deals until they have reached an agreement on pricing, and Reuters notes that it has been over three years since the two signed their preliminary gas deal.  Citigroup and Gazprom have bought a small amount of energy-intensity credits from Tianjin heating utilities, but reports suggest that the transaction could lead to a bigger Chinese market for trading carbon credits.  Gazprom says it would welcome possible investments in Ukraine’s gas infrastructure.  Alexander Medvedev, the company’s deputy chairman, said that the UK should scrap plans to build thousands of wind farms in favor of building more gas plants if it wants to reduce emissions. ‘We at Gazprom believe gas should be treated on an equal footing as renewables.‘